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Council Decision (EU) 2019/1955 of 21 November 2019 on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union within the General Council of the World Trade Organization as regards the adoption of a decision on the review of the Understanding on Tariff Rate Quota Administration Provisions of Agricultural Products (‘TRQ Understanding’)
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THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 207(4) in conjunction with Article 218(9) thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,
Whereas:
(1) On 22 December 1994, the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (the ‘WTO Agreement’) was concluded by the Union by Council Decision 94/800/EC(1) and entered into force on 1 January 1995.
(2) Pursuant to paragraph 1 of Article IV of the WTO Agreement, the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (‘WTO’) has the authority to take decisions on all matters under any of the Multilateral Trade Agreements.
(3) Pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article IV of the WTO Agreement, in the intervals between meetings of the Ministerial Conference the functions of the Ministerial Conference are to be conducted by the General Council of the WTO.
(4) Pursuant to paragraph 1 of Article IX of the WTO Agreement, WTO bodies usually take decisions by consensus.
(5) In December 2013, the Ninth Session of the WTO Ministerial Conference adopted a Ministerial Decision on Understanding on Tariff Rate Quota Administration Provisions of Agricultural Products, as defined in Article 2 of the Agreement on Agriculture (WT/MIN(13)/39) (the ‘TRQ Understanding’) that governs the management of tariff rate quotas of agricultural products.
(6) Pursuant to paragraph 13 of the TRQ Understanding, a review of the operation of the TRQ Understanding is to commence no later than four years following its adoption, taking into account experience gained up to that time. The objective of this review is to promote a continuing process of improvement in the utilisation of tariff rate quotas.
(7) In accordance with paragraph 13 of the TRQ Understanding, the Committee on Agriculture proceeded with the review of that Understanding in 2018. The review findings will be presented to the December 2019 meeting of the General Council of the WTO in the form of a report issued by the Committee on Agriculture (Report No G/AG/29 ‘Review of the Operation of the Bali Decision on TRQ Administration’ of 31 October 2019).
(8) Given the lack of consensus among WTO members on the substantive amendments to the TRQ Understanding, the report recommends prolonging the review period until the end of 2021, so that a consensus on substantive amendments may be reached. The report further includes recommendations intended to increase the transparency of TRQ administration.
(9) In its December 2019 meeting, the General Council of the WTO should be invited to consider the adoption of the recommendations laid down in Annex 2 of Report No G/AG/29 in the form of a decision on the review of the TRQ Understanding.
(10) It is appropriate to establish the position to be taken on the Union’s behalf in the General Council of the WTO, as the decision to be adopted will be binding on the Union.
(11) In the General Council of the WTO, the Union is to be represented by the Commission, in accordance with Article 17(1) of the Treaty on European Union,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
The position to be taken on the Union’s behalf within the General Council of the World Trade Organization (the ‘General Council of the WTO’) in its December 2019 meeting shall be based on the draft decision by the General Council of the WTO adopting the recommendations made to the General Council of the WTO by the Committee on Agriculture in Annex 2 of its Report No G/AG/29 of 31 October 2019 attached to this Decision.
Minor changes to that draft decision may be agreed to by the representatives of the Union in the General Council of the WTO without further decision of the Council.
This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.
Done at Brussels, 21 November 2019.
For the Council
The President
V. Skinnari
Reallocation of unused-licenses within a TRQ;
Reallocation processes, including regarding country-specific allocations(8);
Sharing of experiences and best practices on improving TRQ fill, including reallocation of TRQs under RTAs.
Timely and complete TRQ notifications;
Prompt reporting of changes in TRQ administration;
Consistent reporting of fill-rates by all Members with TRQ commitments;
Harmonized notifications practices (e.g. for TRQs not opened or scheduled TRQs with no tariff advantage);
Reporting of reasons of underfill;
Sharing of national experiences and best practices of TRQ administration;
Special and differential treatment (Burdensomeness of notification requirements);
Linkage with notification requirements in the area of import licensing procedures;
Technical assistance by the Secretariat towards improved notification compliance of Members.
Differing obligations of Members (paragraph 4 of Annex A);
Special and differential treatment;
Potential less-than-universal applicability in future;
Linkage between Annex B and paragraph 4 of Annex A;
Exploration of the causes of underfill;
Targeted examination of TRQ underfill in some specific sectors;
Practical applicability of the Underfill Mechanism (exploration of reasons including potential complexity, as to why it has not yet been invoked, sharing of experiences, simplification of procedural requirements);
Maintenance of list of underfilled TRQs by the Secretariat.
Pursuant to paragraphs 13-15 of the Bali TRQ Decision (WT/MIN(13)/39), the Committee at its meeting on 31 October 2019 agrees to the following recommendations as included in Annex 2 to this report for consideration by the General Council.
a Document G/AG/W/171 of 9 February 2018. | |
b WT/MIN (13)/39 AND WT/L/914 dated 11 December 2013. | |
List of documents | |
G/AG/W/169 10 October 2017 | Monitoring and review of Members’ obligations established under the Bali Decision on TRQ administration. Note by the Secretariat |
G/AG/W/171 9 February 2018 | Proposed process for the Review of the Operation of the Bali Decision on TRQ Administration. Note by the Secretariat |
G/AG/W/175 18 May 2018 and G/AG/W/175/Add.1 7 May 2019 |
Communications from the European Union |
G/AG/W/179 6 June 2018 |
Submission from the Cairns Group |
G/AG/W/183 31 July 2018 | Tariff quota administration methods and fill rates 2007-2016. Background Paper by the Secretariat |
G/AG/W/186 19 September 2018 | Review of Bali Decision on TRQ administration. Submission from Australia |
G/AG/W/197 24 May 2019 | The Underfill Mechanism of the Bali TRQ Administration Decision Submission on behalf of the Cairns Group |
The Secretariat will prepare a list of the existing TRQ notification practices of Members including in cases where a scheduled TRQ was not opened.
The Committee will initiate discussions on harmonization of Members’ TRQ notification practices, including for the TRQ fill rates.
The Committee encourages Members to include an explanation in their Table MA:2 notifications in cases where scheduled TRQs are not opened.
The Secretariat will regularly update the information on TRQ administration and fill rates as included in G/AG/W/183(9) as well the updated information on which Members have notified fill rates and on questions raised in the Committee concerning fill rates.
Council Decision 94/800/EC of 22 December 1994 concerning the conclusion on behalf of the European Community, as regards matters within its competence, of the agreements reached in the Uruguay Round multilateral negotiations (1986-1994) (OJ L 336, 23.12.1994, p. 1).
Paragraph 13 of WT/MIN(13)/39. No experience with regard to recourse to the Underfill Mechanism has yet been reported.
Section 2.2.1 of G/AG/R/86 refers.
Section 2.5.1 of G/AG/R/87 refers.
At the June 2019 meeting, the Committee agreed to extend the timeline to the October 2019 meeting of the Committee to finalize the report of the Review.
G/AG/W/183.
There is no agreement among Members on these elements or their treatment in the recommendations.
Paragraph 9 of the Bali Ministerial Decision on TRQ refers to the reallocation process. Additionally, footnotes 3 and 5 of Annex A of the Bali Decision refer to the rights of Members holding a country-specific allocation specifically in the context of the underfill mechanism.
The Secretariat background note may specifically include a list of TRQs where no Table MA:2 notification has been submitted or where the fill rate is below 65 %.
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